If you're being honest with yourselves, fighting on the streets is not the most honorable thing a person could do, martial artist or no. Neither is training to hurt/maim/kill someone regardless of the reason.

People shouldn't have to get their morals from an "art" which is designed to hurt others. That would be like studying to be a dietician at the University of McDonald's. (No relation to this website stated or implied whatsoever, hummana hummana...)

Unless your school is an organization like the Shaolin Temple, for example, that blends "religion" (Buddhism isn't technically a religion in the Western sense) and martial skill, or an organization that has a specific purpose for martial arts (Police Force, Military, etc), then as individuals, it's not the responsibility of the instructor to teach you morals. In the above cases, morals are needed because each member of the "team" or each disciple at the temple is an integral part of a group working toward a goal. If there were no ground rules (codes of honor, for example) the group could not succeed.

But your average Dojo in the U.S, at least, doesn't need all that. People go there to train a few days a week, and then go home to their jobs and their lives. If one of them doesn't show up, the school goes on (or goes under if they're not getting enough business...) and nobody cares. If they use their skills to rob an old lady, they are individually responsible for their own actions, being private citizens.

Unless your school is an organization like the Shaolin Temple, for example, that blends "religion" (Buddhism isn't technically a religion in the Western sense) and martial skill, or an organization that has a specific purpose for martial arts (Police Force, Military, etc), then as individuals, it's not the responsibility of the instructor to teach you morals. In the above cases, morals are needed because each member of the "team" or each disciple at the temple is an integral part of a group working toward a goal. If there were no ground rules (codes of honor, for example) the group could not succeed.

Interesting points, one and all. I definately think there is something about taking mature and responsible approach to any martial art/style. It is simply about growing up and being an adult about things. People who go around spouting they can do this, or they can do that, are being immature and usually are the "idiots of the subculture" I think, as Rising Pheonix mentioned. The true martial artist/master has nothing to prove.

Why? If someone wants to hurt someone the odds are that theyll use a gun.

There are quite a few crimes that have no weapons involved. In fact just glancing at statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice only "in 26% of the incidents of violent crime, a weapon was present." Of course for homicide and robberies the percentage was much higher. Still, a sizable amount of crime is committed without the use of weapons.

Personally I wouldn't teach someone if I felt them to be a morally reprehensible individual, even if there was a 99% chance they wouldn't use a single thing I taught them in a fight, that 1% would still bother me if I heard they'd mauled someone.